


The Foxhole Weyr

by cheesyy



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Pern Fusion, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Dragons, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Impression (Dragonriders of Pern), M/M, Rating May Change, Telepathy, You don't need to know anything about Pern!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheesyy/pseuds/cheesyy
Summary: Neil hasn't spoken to a dragon since his mother died. He hasn't ridden one since he and his mother ran away from Moriyama Weyr eight years ago. But now, he's been Searched by riders from Foxhole Weyr. To Impress a dragon would be very, very dangerous for Neil. It could get him killed. But he's spent the last eight years running from dragons, despite his longing for one of his own. Maybe it's time to find something - and someone- worth fighting for.ORAll for the Game, but with dragons.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you have read the Pern books, great! If you haven’t, that’s also great – you can still read this perfectly fine! I’ll explain the basics, but I think a lot of it is pretty easy to pick up as you go along.
> 
> \--
> 
> Pern was colonized by Earth people who then lost touch with the home planet (and most of their technology). A deadly space rain called 'Thread' falls from the sky every two hundred years, devouring what it touches. In response, a race of genetically engineered, telepathic dragons were uplifted from native animals (firelizards - tiny dragons!). These dragons soulbond to young humans and together they train to protect Pern by flaming Thread out of the sky. The dragons not only fly, but can also teleport (called "going between") to any place that their rider can clearly visualize. Riders can only speak to their own dragon – it is very rare to have the ability to speak to all dragons.
> 
> A Weyr (rhymes with 'here') is a colony of dragons, riders and their support staff organized around the raising and training of dragons to fight Thread. A Hold is basically a town, village, or simply a little cottage – a Major Hold has Minor Holds within it.
> 
> Hatching dragons require a human to bond to; otherwise they die. From time to time, the Weyr rides out on 'Search' - a hunt led by experienced dragonriders for teenagers and young adults around Pern with the mental abilities to 'Impress' (soul bond) a dragon.
> 
> Dragons (and firelizards) come in five colours. Firelizards can bond to anyone, but dragons have certain restrictions, and certain personalities are typically chosen by certain colours:  
> Gold = queens = female, these are the breeders, they are only Impressed by women.  
> Bronze = male, only Impressed by men, they are the biggest and most impressive males. Bronze riders are the leaders of the Weyr (Wingleaders)  
> Brown = male, second largest of the males, only Impressed by men. Brown riders are typically the back-up leaders (Wingseconds)  
> Blue = male, second l, only Impressed by men. The footsoldiers.  
> Green = female, smallest. Impressed by men and woman. Make up the bulk of the Weyr. Are infertile and fly to mate often. Male green riders are typically gay.  
> Dragons fly to mate – greens are ‘caught’ by any male, golds only by bronzes. There are consent issues around this, as the riders are usually overcome by their dragons instincts and mate themselves, to the rider of their dragon’s mate. Whichever bronze catches the most senior queen, his rider becomes the leader of the Weyr (Weyrleader), with the queen’s rider (Weyrwoman).

Neil’s back was cool against the wall of the firestone storage cave, but his face was almost burning. He watched as his little firelizard queen blew flame just shy of his face. The burning sensation reminded him of his father and the burn scar on his right shoulder; the arid smell of firestone reminded him of his mother. It was at once revolting and comforting, and it sent a sick shudder down his spine. The jolt sent his queen off with a chirp. She flew up to a tree just outside the cave entrance, so that all he could see of her was her whirling eyes glowing against the evening gloom.

He tilted his head back, letting it thud against the wall of the cave. Neil glanced up at the sky, but clouds made the stars seem blurred, and he looked back at the firelizard. He wondered – not for the first time - where his mother’s own bronze firelizard had gone. He’d never found his body.

His firelizard chirped a warning, pulling him out his thoughts. He looked to see her eyes whirling a fraction faster, but he wasn’t concerned. Neil knew if it had been a stranger approaching she would have been screaming - he’d trained her well. He pulled his worn travel bag closer, and stood up as Hernandez approached.

“Not lining up with the others to be Searched?” Hernandez asked.

Neil glanced at the faraway silhouettes perched up on the cliffs, the reason he’d been driven out to the firestone storage cave. He had no desire to get involved with dragons. If he’d been with his mother, they would have left the minute their firelizards had chirped their warnings of dragon presences. She wouldn’t have taken any chances. Neil had simply watched them fly in, before bolting to the cave.

“My parents wouldn’t like it,” Neil said. It wasn’t a lie.

“Those parents none of us have ever met?”

“They’re out selling at Gathers,” Neil said. His eyes meet Hernandez’. He knew Hernandez didn’t believe a word of his story. Why would two Tanners leave their nearly full-grown son behind, at a Hold they didn’t belong to? Why wouldn’t he be apprenticed by now? The older Neil got, the harder it was to come up with these stories; he had no craft skills, and there was only so long he could pretend before people started asking questions.

He’d been lucky so far at Telgar Hold. Hernandez had caught on quickly that his story didn’t make much sense, but he’d stopped others asking questions. He’d even taken Neil on as a Runner without apprenticing him, which had given Neil plenty of chances to map out the surrounding area. Ironically, he’d never been surer of his escape routes from this Hold, yet he’d never had less of a desire to move on.

“They’ve come to Search you,” Hernandez said.

To someone who’d spent half his life running from dragons they were words from a nightmare. Neil slung his bag over his shoulder, but a startled, terrified cry from his firelizard queen, and a responding roar from one of those silhouettes on the cliff.

He watched carefully as the two dragonriders approached, body tense and ready to run despite the futilely of it. His firelizard went inbetween and appeared again on his shoulder, where her claws dug in tightly enough that he could feel them pierce the skin. It didn’t bother him – she’d done it enough that he had ten small scars aligned up where she liked to perch, but her lack of warning did. Not looking away from the dragonriders, he admonished her through their link, and she let out a cry of unhappiness.

One of the dragonriders approached, while the other stopped too far away for Neil to examine him. He focused on the blonde approaching. He was the shortest rider Neil had ever seen, but he also looked deadly – leather armbands covered his forearms, but further up the evidence of threadscore was apparent.

“Don’t take it out on her,” he said, nodding at the queen clinging to Neil’s shoulder. “I had my Minth keep her quiet. Hernandez said you’re a runner.”

Neil shot a glare at Hernandez. He knew not to get attached, but he’d gone ahead and done it anyway, and now he was paying the price. If he’d managed to keep himself out of sight, no one would’ve thought of him when he was missing from those lining up to be Searched.

“Don’t take it out on him, either,” the rider said in response to that glare. “Minth could sense you the minute we arrived. We would always have found you.”

“I don’t want to be Searched,” Neil repeated. He kept his tone steady, but inside he was despairing. He couldn’t escape a dragon, and they could Search him regardless of his feelings. His only hope would be that they accept his refusal – not likely, if the dragons liked him that much – or that he sneaks away from the Weyr once they send him there.

“Too bad,” the rider said. “You’ve been searched.”

The rider standing behind the blonde shook his head and came forward into the light. With a jolt that caused his queen to dig her claws in tighter – she wouldn’t leave him while she was this scared – Neil realised he recognised him. Kevin, rider of bronze Daynth. Which meant that this was a Search for Moriyama Weyr.

Neil bolted.

For a moment, all Neil could feel was pounding – of his heart and his feet. The riders weren’t pursuing him, and his queen was safe as she flew high above him. Maybe he could get away. A Search from any Weyr was dangerous because it could bring him to the attention of his father and the Moriyama Weyr. A Search for the Weyr itself was a death sentence. He couldn’t let them take him.

But he’d forgotten the dragons. He first heard the crack as one burst into the air above him from between, and then a roar that almost blew him off his feet. He kept running even as he felt its wings beat above him, air nearly pushing him to the ground each time, but wasn’t enough.  
Neil wasn’t fast enough.

He tripped as the green dragon landed on top of him, caging him in with its front legs. He tried to push past them, but the dragon – the previously mentioned Minth, he was sure – merely swung its head to stare at him, whirling eyes an anxious yellow.

 _Get off me_ he spoke to her. He hadn’t spoken to a dragon since his mother’s death, but now was not the time for reminiscing. He couldn’t be taken to Moriyama Weyr. Kevin might not recognise him, but somebody would.

 _Why?_   The green asked, her tone confused. Her eyes whirled faster. __I have Searched you. You must Impress._ _

_I don’t want to Impress!_ he shouted at her, and both she and the other dragon on the cliff burgled upset cries. Dragons were so annoyingly simple.

 _Why would you not want to Impress?_ she asked, her tone as upset as a dragon’s could be.

 _I will not be safe at your home_ he pressed images into her head of Moriyama Weyr, accompanied by the strongest sense of danger and fear he could conjure. It wasn’t hard; all he had to do was think of his father.

To his surprise, she didn’t burgle again like he would’ve expected – she wasn’t upset at all. _That’s not my home_ she said.

Before he could make her explain, their unspoken conversation was interrupted by her rider, who knelt to stare through the cage of her legs.

“Better luck next time,” the blonde said, and smiled down at him.

“Fuck you,” Neil said.

The blonde mockingly pouted at him, “No thanks.” His eyes went blank for a moment, and then the cage of Minth’s legs withdrew as she sat back on her haunches.

“What Weyr are you from?” Neil asked abruptly.

The blonde stared at him for a moment. “Does it matter? We’re taking you either way.”

 __“__ Andrew,” Kevin snapped, coming up from behind him, “Try playing nice.” His face was unimpressed as he gave Neil a hand up. Neil grudgingly took it. His firelizard suddenly appeared again on his shoulder: apparently she thought the danger had passed. Neil wasn’t so sure.

“But nice is so boring,” the blonde, Andrew, said, still staring at Neil. “And this one’s not boring at all. He thinks we’re from Moriyama Weyr.”

Neil glared at him. Kevin flinched so quickly and carefully that if Neil hadn’t looked back at him just in time, he would have missed it. It had been so long since he’d seen him – just Kevin back then, no dragon by his side – but he still remembered his face after all this time. It hadn’t changed, except for the number two carved into the skin under his left cheekbone. The pink scar tissue, tight and shiny, was just a different enough texture, from the rest of his face that it stood out. It made him want to retch.

Kevin had had the two back then, but it had been a bloody scar at that point. He and Riko had only just done it. They had used a thin, fine blade that Neil had stared at for too long when they showed him. Riko had offered to carve a three on his face. Neil and his mother had been gone that night, so Riko had never had the chance, but sometimes Neil had nightmares of feeling that three on his skin.

“We’re not.” Kevin said, curt. “We’re from Foxhole Weyr. David is our Weyrleader.”

Neil stared at him for a moment. “What’re you doing, Searching at Telga Hold?”

“Foxhole Weyr only has a few Holds under it,” Kevin said, “We have permission from all the Weyrs – except Moriyama – to Search in their territory. In exchange the Holds trade with them.”

Neil had heard of Foxhole Weyr. The Southern continent was a massive, unexplored paradise, until twenty turns ago, when David had taken his bronze Macanth and a small group of riders from Warmack Weyr to found a new Weyr. He’d heard that David took fuckups – those who others said should never have Impressed. Those who’d lost their dragons, or had been badly hurt in Threadfall, or who were just plain psychotic. Like Andrew, Neil suspected, eying the blonde.

“C’mon,” Andrew drawled, meeting Neil’s eyes. “He’s the only good Candidate we’ve found here. Let’s go.”

Kevin looked at Neil carefully and said, “Will you fight us?”

Neil considered it for a moment, tensed, and then relaxed with a sigh. There was no outrunning two dragons that could go between and come out exactly where he ran to. He’d considered going to the Southern Continent before, making his way onto one of the ships of settlers that set off more and more frequently these days. He’d heard stories of people making their own tiny isolated Holds, or simply living as roamers in the jungle. He’d have to escape the Weyr, and then he could try surviving on his own.

“No,” he said, and Kevin nodded. He turned as far away his bronze Danth launched himself off the cliff face and went between, only to appear in the sky above them three coughs later. As Danth landed and Kevin went to climb onto him, Andrew reached for Neil’s duffel.

Neil flinched away but allowed Andrew to take the duffel and tie it onto Minth’s footstraps, watching carefully. Finished tying, Andrew pushed him in the direction of Minth, and ignored his resulting glare. Suspecting this was a challenge of sorts – Andrew had no reason to think that Neil would know how to mount a dragon – Neil asked Minth to lower her head, and she obligingly did so. Neil hadn’t ridden a dragon for 8 years, but he remembered it easily. Only now that he was bigger, swinging his leg around was much easier. Andrew watched carefully as Neil positioned himself properly between the ridges of her spine, his stare blank.

Andrew swung himself up in front of Neil in one smooth gesture. “Say goodbye to your friend.”

Neil glanced at Hernandez, standing long forgotten by the firestone, and was tempted to ignore his arm raised in farewell. Hernandez had led them to him, after all. But his firelizard let out a soft chirp in his ear, and he raised his hand back.

“You’re been Between before?” Andrew asked, and Neil nodded. It wasn’t an unusual thing to have done. Many people had been given a ride by a dragon at some point or another. “Good. I’m telling Minth to give your firelizard an image of where to go. What’s her name?”

Surprised by the question, Neil responded without thinking, “Queen."

Minth let out a snort, and Andrew twisted to stare at Neil. “You named your queen firelizard, Queen?”

“Yes.” Neil said, staring back at him.

Andrew stared at him for a moment longer, and then turned back. “Hold on,” he said. Minth took one huge leap, with a dragon’s monstrously strong back legs, and then they were in the air.

A moment later, and the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that have read the books – I’ve decided to leave out the contracted names for the sake of those who haven’t read the books, my typing, and simply because it feels weird to write and read their names contracted. Pern geography and is the same, but I've replaced the names of the Weyrs.  
> The rating and warnings may change as the story progresses. I’ll let you know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I have spent the past week rereading the books and googling Pern and I now have a solid plan for this - as you can tell by the updated chapter total! I will be updating Sundays (in NZ), and maaaybe Thursdays - I will try that for next week and then see how that goes.
> 
> P.s Pern does not have contact lenses, so Neil is blue-eyed from the beginning. I am however assuming it has some version of hair dye.

For the span of three coughs, they hang in the bone-chilling cold of Between. Devoid of light or sound, the only thing Neil could feel was the warm bulk of the dragon between his legs. He couldn’t help his urge to reach forward, and the sensation of his hands finding Andrew’s shoulders was a relief to the primal fear that rose up within him.

Andrew tolerated his grip for only the time they spent in between, shrugging him off the moment they entered the air above Foxhole Weyr. The blast of warm air was an immediate discomfort to Neil; in all his years travelling around Pern, he’d never been anywhere as warm as this. He started to sweat immediately, while Minth slowly circled lower and lower as she approached the Weyr.

Forgetting his fear now that they were out of Between, Neil craned his head over the side of the green dragon to get his first view of the Weyr. It was like nothing he’d ever seen. The Weyrs in the Northern continent were made from cave systems, carved into cliff faces. This Weyr was open to the skies, a huge area of sand and earth, with dragons curled up in sand wallows enjoying the sun, and wooden structures dotted here and there. As they came closer Neil even spotted a huge golden dragon, and vague shapes that he suspected were the eggs he’d been Searched for.

His view of the Weyr was cut off, however, by the arrival of a bronze firelizard that popped into the air above them, and glide down onto Andrew’s shoulder. Queen promptly did the same to Neil, and chirped angrily to the little bronze. A quick glance revealed her eyes were the orange of anger, while the bronze’s were a more peaceful blue. The bronze cocked his head and chirped back in a friendly tone, but Queen wasn’t impressed, as she reached out and smacked the bronze with her wing. Now wasn’t the time to let himself get off-guard, but Neil couldn’t help his amusement.

“Go away.” Andrew said to the good-natured little bronze, and pushed him off his shoulder. The bronze tumbled in the air for a few moments before regaining his wings, and he chided Andrew with a chirp before disappearing Between.

“Is he yours?” Neil asked curiously.

“Yes.” Andrew said, then “Get off, we’re here. Don’t bother running, there’s nowhere for you to go.”

Minth had landed. Neil slid off her, wincing when his feet reached hot sand. He would need to get thicker shoes than his worn leather boots if he was going to be living here. Andrew slide off behind him, chucking Neil’s bag at his feet. Kevin quickly joined them. His bronze, Daynth, and Minth both took off again, while their riders went either side of Neil.

“C’mon,” Kevin said, “Couch will want to meet you.”

They followed a brown firelizard to the Weyrleader. It was a short walk, as he was at the hatching ground Neil had spotted during their flight down. He was standing with the Weyrwoman, Abby – the two of them appeared to be discussing the clutch of eggs that their dragons were protectively crouched over. Gold Winfielth hissed at them as they approached, but Kevin and Andrew ignored her while Neil eyed her warily. Queen gave a valiant hiss back.

“Coach,” Kevin called as they approached, and the two standing on the sands turned to watch their approach. They immediately recognised Neil as a stranger to their Weyr.

“David, rider of bronze Macanth.” The Weyrleader said, offering Neil his hand to shake. Neil eyed it distrustfully before shaking it. “Most people call me Coach.”

“Neil,” he said. “This is Queen.” The firelizard in question sat up on her hunches and placed a delicate paw on Neil’s ear, and chirped as if to introduce herself. Neil quickly scolded her through their bond – his mother had insisted they train their firelizards to be quiet and subtle, to serve as messengers, scouts, and guards when needed, but firelizards were silly creatures with minds of their own.

Couch smiled at her for a moment before turning his eyes on Neil. He gave Neil a quick once-over, appraising him, before nodding in approval.

“Bit short,” he commented, looking over Neil’s shoulder. Behind him, Andrew snorted.

“Well Neil, welcome to Foxhole Weyr. This is our Weyrwoman, Abby, and her queen Winfielth, and this is the clutch you’ll be standing for. They were only just clutched, so you’ll have to wait about five seven-days. In the meantime, you can get settled into the Weyr, and help out around the place. We’ll be having dinner soon, but in the meantime Kevin and Andrew can show you around.”

Neil nodded in response, and turned his attention to Abby as she greeted him. They seemed like nice people, but Neil didn’t trust them. He didn’t like the intent in Coach’s eyes as he judged Neil’s worn clothes and tight grip on his travel bag, and Abby was too sweet. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Let’s go, runner.” Andrew said from behind him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder to turn him. Neil couldn’t help his flinch, and he knew that Coach’s sharp eyes had caught it. Andrew released his shoulder quickly, and Neil complacently followed him and Kevin as they led him down another path in the sand all around them. Complacent for now, that was. He needed to get the lay of the land if he was going to make an escape. Five weeks was his deadline, he now knew. Neil would be out of here by then.

They took him to a long wooden building with several rooms in it, each with six wooden cots within them. Neil’s room appeared to be empty of any other residents, to his relief, but he was well aware that as the Search continued it would fill up with other Candidates. He was hesitant to leave his bag behind, but a look from Andrew made him; it wouldn’t do for anyone to get too curious about his attachment to it. As they left the room, Neil eyed the white robes hanging on a hook next to the door; these were the traditional Candidate robes. Hopefully he’d never wear them.

Neil once more followed Kevin and Andrew, neither of whom spoke, to a large wooden building that stepping inside revealed was the dining hall. All the wooden buildings seemed dangerous considering they were surrounded by fire-breathing animals, Neil thought. He wasn’t sure about how he felt about this sandy, hot, wooden Weyr. He’d been raised in a Weyr of cool dark caves, with nooks and crannies he could escape to when his father’s favourites were bored.

He followed his silent guides’ lead as they grabbed food, and then seats at a bench where two others – riders, from the looks of the leathers they were wearing – were already eating. To his surprise, Neil looked up to find he was sitting opposite an exact replica of Andrew. The only difference was the lack of leather armguards.

One of the strangers smiled at Neil, who stared back as the man introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Nicky! Rider of green Hemmicanth. I’m the twins’ cousin.”

“Aaron," the other twin said, with the tone of someone who didn’t want to be here. “Rider of brown Yarth.”

Neil noted, slightly surprised, that the twins had different colours of dragon. It was the dragon’s choice, and brothers have been known to end up with wildly different dragons, or even one left on the sands while the other Impressed, but twins were interesting. They might look the same, but Neil suspected he was dealing with two very different people. He didn’t like that. It made them less predictable in his mind.

“Neil,” he said once more. Queen had disappeared sometime between here and the barracks. Neil suspected she was off introducing herself to the many firelizards that were constantly flicking around the place. A daring one even swooped down to pinch a piece of meat off Nicky’s plate – Neil thought it was the bronze from before, and chanced a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Neil,” Nicky said cheerfully. “Were you just Searched by Andrew and Minth?”

Neil nodded. Nicky steadily ignored the disinterest everyone else at the table, including Neil, was showing at this.

“That’s a good sign.” Nick said, “Every candidate they’ve ever Searched has Impressed.”

Neil tensed immediately. That was not a good sign for him – he did not intend to Impress, and he did not want to be some prime Candidate they all were invested in. He wanted to be forgettable.

Andrew, next to him, squeezed his leg in a painful grip, and Neil forced himself to relax. They both carried on as if nothing had happened, but Neil knew Andrew was noting his behaviour.

“Do you have a preference for what colour you’d like to Impress?” Nicky carried on, “I know all the young boys want to Impress bronze, but not everyone wants to be some big important leader like Kevin here.” Kevin gave Nicky a withering look at this comment.

“Not bronze,” Neil said quietly.

“Oh!” Nicky said, surprised. “Really? What then?”

“Just not bronze,” Neil said. The memory of a bronze dragon a shade so dark it was almost black, large and threadscored, rose in his mind.

Nicky frowned for a moment, then shook his head, “Well, you have a good chance of that. Winfielth’s only laid 20 eggs, and no Queen egg. There’s probably only one or two bronzes in that clutch.”

And, Neil thought, he wasn’t planning on being here when they hatched. No chance of Impressing a bronze, or any dragon, that way. He wouldn’t be tied down to a Weyr, or having to keep a huge beast alive. A dragon would be a liability, and it would attract unwanted attention.

He knew those were his top priorities – staying hidden, on the move, as his mother had drilled into him over and over. But most of all, he didn’t want to be like his father. He looked enough like him as it is – he could dye his hair brown, but there was no covering those bright blue eyes. The thought of a great bronze standing behind his shoulder sickened him.

Neil was sure - he could not become like his father. He had to get out, as soon as possible. He could not Impress.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weyrlings = baby dragons and their riders, aka dragonriders in training. Weyrlingmaster = their trainer.
> 
> Also, it's really hard to spellcheck this what with all the made-up words, so please let me know if you spot a mistake!
> 
> I'm really glad you're all enjoying this so far - every comment and kudo gives me the warm fuzzies. Thank you!!

Neil is woken up the next day by the creak of a wooden floorboard outside his barrack. He lies still in bed, ready to grab the knife he has stashed under his bedroll at any moment. He sends Queen off; obedient for once, she goes between without a sound. When Kevin enters, Neil sits up. Following behind him is Andrew, with a misplaced, grotesque grin on his face. Neil doesn’t look at him for long; Kevin is the immediate threat.

“Get up,” Kevin says.

“Why?” Neil asks, “Are you the Weyrlingmaster?” He sees Andrews grin widen, and realises that he’s let out more crucial information. Neil from Igen Hold had no reason to know who oversaw the training of Candidates. Ordinarily it might have just been a random scrap of information he’d picked up somewhere, but he knew Andrew wouldn’t consider it so.

“No,” Kevin said, “But you’re getting extra training from me. Get up.”

“Why do I need extra training?” Neil asked, freeing himself from his bedroll.

“You’re going to be a bronzerider,” Kevin said, “We need you to be the best.”

“You can’t know that,” Neil said, even as he retrieved a change of clothes from his travel bag.

“Minth,” Andrew said. His mouth grinned, but his eyes were empty. He looked the definition of crazy. Neil moved slowly around him; he knew what crazy could do. “Minth is never wrong.”

Kevin nodded, “She doesn’t find Candidates often, but when she does they always Impress the colour she says they will.”

“Okay,” Neil said. He eyed the clothing in his hand, and then stared at them both meaningfully. They both didn’t acknowledge anything, so he sighed and said, “Some privacy please?”

Kevin frowned, like it hadn’t even clicked that Neil could’ve been hinting at that. Andrew laughed too long.

“There’s no privacy in a Weyr,” Andrew said, eyes blank again. Neil suppressed a shudder, but couldn’t pull his eyes from that face. Something was wrong about it; it hadn’t been so wrong before, last night. “Get used to everyone knowing everything about you; your friends and family, your eating habits, what you look like naked, and when you have sex. And every bit of your tragic backstory they can get.”  
Neil couldn’t help the shudder this time. Andrew was wrong, of course – his father had managed to find enough privacy in his Weyr to do terrible things, with half the Weyr partaking and the other half none-the-wiser. But the reality Andrew described – it was his worst nightmare.

“Good thing I don’t have sex then,” Neil said. Andrew laughed louder, and stepped forward past Kevin. Kevin stared at the ground, while Andrew gripped Neil’s collar, pulled him close, and stared him in the eyes. He had to tilt his head up, just a little, but it didn’t make his blank stare any less intimidating. Neil tensed, ready to break free but also aware that he didn’t want to play his hand too soon.

“Just you wait.” Andrew said. The grin was still on his face, more disturbing than ever. “Wait until you have a dragon. Then you’ll have sex. When that bronze of yours is flying high chasing a pretty green or gold, and it takes you over until there’s nothing left of Neil of Igen, or whoever you really are, and you become your dragon - then you’ll have sex. You won’t know who with, and it won’t matter. You won’t be able to control yourself. Just you wait.”

Andrew pushed Neil away easily, who stumbled as he hastily stepped back to balance himself. Queen appeared on his shoulder to hiss, but it was too late. Kevin looked up at Neil briefly enough to tell him to be outside in two minutes, before following Andrew out.

After seemingly endless exercises out in the burning hot sands, driven by Kevin’s unrelenting insistence, they had breakfast. The other two, Nicky and Aaron, were once again waiting from them inside, and Nicky once again attempted to lead them all in conversation, cheery as before. This time he was interrupted before he gave up, by a man who was startlingly tall as he loomed over all of them at the table.

The man’s initially intimidating appearance – the height, being clad in full riding leathers, and with the black spiky hair – was immediately offset by his friendly grin.

“Neil, right?” the man said, and continued at Neil’s silent nod. “I’m Matt, rider of bronze Boyth. I’m the Weyrlingmaster, which also means I’m in charge of you Candidates while we wait and see which of you become Weyrlings. You’re to report to me every morning after breakfast, just after sunrise. What you do before then is up to you.” He eyed Kevin as he said that. He knew exactly what Neil had been up to this morning, Neil thought. He wondered if there was any tension between the two – did Kevin want to be Weyrlingmaster? And for that matter, he still didn’t know how, or why, Kevin was here, and not a Moriyama Weyr.

“I like each Candidate to get to feel the eggs one-on-on,” Matt told Neil, as around them the others got up. “As we get closer to the hatching that becomes impossible of course, there’s too many of you, but for now you get your own private egg session. So, come with me and we’ll go have a look.”

Matt presented Neil with thick-soled sandals that he thankfully put on, before he led the way to the sand Neil had first seen yesterday. He was unsurprised that Matt immediately started to talk. Andrew and Kevin might freak him out – albeit for different reasons – but he already missed their presence. At least they didn’t make small talk.

“So, you’re in with the monsters?” Matt asked conversationally. Neil looked at him, simply raising his eyebrows, and Matt clarified, “The twins, Nicky, and Kevin. We call them the monsters because they’re fucking crazy.”

“They’re not monsters,” Neil said. He knew monsters. Andrew, maybe, but not the others. “Crazy, perhaps.”

Matt gave him a sidelong look, then shook his head, “If you say so.”

It was a short trip to the sands, where the clutch of twenty monstrous, mottled eggs laid. Winfield raised her giant golden head and snorted at the two of them, before turning away from them. The eggs weren’t moving yet, as the dragonets within were too young, but in his mind’s eye Neil could picture the scene they’d make on hatching day. He’d seen it before, after all. As they stepped onto the sands, Neil realised the sandals weren’t enough, as the two of them found themselves swaying from foot to foot.

“Well here they are,” Matt said, “feel free to touch them. We think it’s good for you – Candidates and dragons. We’ve had less injuries during hatchings since we started doing it.”

Neil stared at the eggs. He’d seen eggs before, but it still amazed him to think of what majestic beasts came from such flaccid-looking shells. If he forgot his history with dragons and Weyrs, he could appreciate them for what they truly were – dangerous but beautiful creatures, with whom one would share a bond like no other. As a boy, he’d dreamt of having a dragon of his own. As he placed a hand steadily on the soft shell of one of the smaller eggs, with a shell mottled with golden-brown swirls, a reminder of that dream tugged at his heart.

Winfielth swung her head around to look at him. _They harden in the heat_ , she told him, _but you cannot hurt them even when they are soft. They are tough. Like you._ Neil stared into one of her huge whirling eyes for a moment, caught, before sending a respectful thank you to the queen dragon.

“A lot of boys try and find a particular egg they like the look of,” Matt told him across the sands, oblivious to the silent conversation between Neil and the queen. Neil stepped carefully among the eggs, trailing his hands over them. “Others go for a wider approach.”

The only approach Neil was going for was to avoid the larger ones, that might possibly hold a bronze. If he did end up Impressing, at least he could do his best to avoid following in his father’s footsteps.

At that moment, Queen decided to make her appearance, popping into existence in the air above Winfielth’s head. She skilfully dodged the queen’s lazy bite in her direction, and glided down to Neil. To his surprise, she didn’t go to him, but to that first egg he’d touched. Despite Winfielth’s mental grumbles, Queen landed on the egg and chirruped happily at Neil.

“She yours?” Matt asked, nodding at the miniature queen, who turned to look at the Weyrlingmaster. She happily tucked her wings back and chirped at him; Matt smiled in amusement.

“Yes,” Neil admitted once more. He was starting to think Queen was more trouble than she was worth.

“She likes that egg,” Matt said, “I’d bet that’s your dragon.”

Neil stared at the egg and the little queen for a moment. Queen had been born only a turn and a half ago from an egg the miniature of the one she now perched on. It brought back a flash of memories: the tense air as they took a break from travelling they couldn’t risk while waiting for their two eggs to hatch, the immense feeling of hunger and need that the two firelizards had projected, and the strange feeling of the mental bond with the newborn she had been. She might be a pain, but she was his now. She was all he had.

“We’ll see,” Neil said, and he turned away.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, apologies for the long-ass wait - holidays were hectic and then I got ill. We should be back on track with weekly (even maybe biweekly) updates as of now! 
> 
> Things to know this chapter: shoulder knots are basically Pern's ID tags. You wear them on your shoulder and certain colours and the type of knot signify where you're from and what your rank is.

Matt put Neil to helping with the chores of the Weyr for the rest of the day – shovelling sandpits while their dragon’s were gone, chopping tubers in the kitchen for their dinner, and even hacking at the jungle vines that crept into the hard-won land. It was hard work, with the ever-present heat constantly beating down on them, and Neil found himself exhausted by the end of the day.

When he entered his barrack that evening he found he was still the only one there, although soon enough he would be sharing the space. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but today alone another four Candidates been Searched – three by Nicky’s Hemmicanth, and one by Andrew’s Minth.

He was so tired from the day’s labour that he almost didn’t check his bag, but despite the heaviness of his body he still did. He was in the habit of self-preservation; his bag contained the key to his constant changing identifies and travels around Pern. He’d been reluctant to leave it alone in this open room, no bolt on the door to keep someone out, but he’d had no choice. Not if he didn’t want to raise suspicions about it, practically inviting people – Andrew – to investigate it. But he knew the minute he opened the bag that it hadn’t helped.

Someone had been through it. 

On first glance, his bag looked undisturbed. But Neil got his paranoia from his mother, and he packed his belongings in a very specific way. He folded everything the same, but tucked in the loose ends of the second shoulder knot in that stack.

Neil pulled his few clothes out and threw them to the side. It was the collection of shoulder knots and notes that he was more concerned with. The notes were names and locations of people who could help Neil, if needed, while the different shoulder knots allowed him to change his identity when needed. His mother had carefully built up the collection while she was preparing to escape his father’s Weyr. He had a knot for every major Hold in Pern, and many smaller ones, as well as those trades that he could pretend to belong to. And most importantly, he had knots for his Uncle’s Weyr, which would get him there under false pretences long enough for him to find his Uncle. His last resort, and now someone knew about it.

Neil was pretty sure he knew who that someone was.

He took a deep breath. He had to keep his mind calm; he didn’t want any of the dragons to pick up on his mood just yet. Queen had appeared when he’d first opened the bag, making angry noises, but now she calmed as he allowed her to sit on his shoulder.

 _Minth_ Neil called with his mind, as he extended his consciousness outwards. It wasn’t hard to find the green dragon’s mind; she wasn’t far, and she was the dragon he was most familiar with here.

 _Neil?_ Her thought was quizzical, and tired – Neil had woken her.

_Minth, where’s Andrew?_

_In his den_ Minth replied unhelpfully

 _Where is that?_ Neil probed. _What does it look like?_

Now he got a picture of Andrew in a hammock, on the deck of one of the many wooden cabins that littered the Weyr, followed by a look at apparently the same cabin from a dragon’s aerial view

 _Thank you Minth_ Neil sent, and the dragon responded with a sleepy blast of happiness. The rider might be obnoxious, Neil thought, but at least his dragon wasn’t.

The fact someone had deliberately come in here and dug through his bag made his stomach hurt with hot anger. The smart thing to do was pretend to not notice anything amiss and wait for the thief to come to him. That was what his mother would do. Unfortunately, Neil had inherited his father's temper. It could have been Matt, or Kevin, but Neil doubted it. Matt didn’t care about his past; Kevin was a coward at heart. It was Andrew who’d done this.

Andrew noticed Neil’s approach almost immediately, watching his approach with that same maniac grin on his face. Minth, Hemmicanth, Aaron’s Yarth, and Kevin’s Danth were all curled up outside the cabin in their respective wallows of sand, fast asleep. When Neil reached the edge of the deck, Andrew raised an eyebrow and spoke without even getting out of his hammock. A familiar bronze firelizard was curled up on his stomach, a strangely endearingly sight that was at odds with the anger Neil felt towards the man.

“You’re at the wrong barracks, Neil.”

“Stay out of my things,” Neil snapped in response. Queen screeched from his shoulder, to Neil’s annoyance, and the bronze firelizard chirped back in a hurt tone.  Andrew didn’t react to his firelizard; he just watched Neil with those quiet, crazy eyes, and that maniac grin.

Neil’s anger simply grew at Andrew’s calmness, although the stilling of voices inside the cabin told him at least someone was responding to his voice.

“The next time one of you goes where you don’t belong,” Neil snarled, raising his voice so that he knew the others inside would hear, “I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

Nicky and Aaron came out the cabin, Nicky with a confused frown and Aaron a disgruntled scowl at being disturbed. Kevin, ever the coward, lurked behind them with a disapproving frown on his own face.

“Wow Neil,” Andrew said calmly, “are you sure you want to threaten a dragonrider?” As if by chance Minth swung her heavy head in their direction; Neil felt the hot air of her breath hit him, but let it blow over him. He wasn’t scared of any dragon. It was the rider that made them cruel, and the way Andrew smoothed a hand over the distraught bronze firelizard told Neil that Andrew wouldn’t take advantage of his dragon’s complacent nature like others would.

Neil stared at Kevin instead. “Tell me you understand.”

Every weyr had their own code; Kevin’s face went grey with surprise as Neil used the one that belonged to Moriyama Weyr, but he nodded. “I understand, but I don’t care.”

“You’d better start,” Neil snapped. Andrew suddenly swung his feet off the hammock, Queen chirping with surprise at the solid thunk his boots hitting the ground made.

“I’d stop speaking that gibberish if I were you,” Andrew said, “especially since little boys from Telgar have no reason to know Moriyama slang. I thought we’d already covered this; there’s no such thing as private in a Weyr. Your things are our things.”

“I’m not part of your weyr yet,” Neil replied, “and why would I want to be? Look at you, you’re fucking crazy.”

In hindsight, Neil regretted saying what he did next. After all, the dragons were the innocents. But he’d seen Danth flying earlier this afternoon while digging pits, spotting what the night had hidden, and the infuriating grin still on Andrew’s face made him see red.

“And you,” he said, turning to Kevin, “Your dragon’s a fucking cripple.”

Kevin’s face went from grey to white, “what did you say?”

“I called your dragon a deadweight. You’re only here because Foxhole Weyr is where they put the retired and the crazy. You’re not fit to fight thread, so they discarded you here.”

Kevin pushed past the other two so fast that Nicky stumbled off the edge of the deck, much to Hemmicanth’s grumbled displeasure. All the dragons were awake now, watching as Kevin went after Neil. They wouldn’t intervene, not in a human fight, but Yarth still voiced his disapproval in a deep growl. Next to him, Danth reared up on his hind legs and hissed, spreading his wings and revealing the long tear through one that ruined his agility in flight.

Kevin got his hand on Neil’s neck in an instant and pushed him off the deck, where he hit the sand with a grunt. He didn’t get a chance to recover his breath before Kevin was on top of him, hands on his neck and one knee painfully digging into his stomach. The sand on his back was burning, making him squirm desperately.

“What the fuck did you say about us?” Kevin demanded again.

Neil didn’t have the breath to answer, but it didn’t matter; there was no way this was going unnoticed by the rest of the weyr. Firelizards had no such qualms like the dragons, and Queen was screeching at the top of her lungs and yanking at Kevin’s hair, while Andrew’s bronze was anxiously chirping in the air above them all. All of the dragons were growling now, eyes whirling red as they felt their riders’ high emotions, and Neil could feel others nearby mentally grumbling at being woken up.

While Neil continued to struggle, Matt came running from the cabin next door, followed by three female riders. Matt went straight for Kevin. He wrapped an arm around his throat and wrenched Kevin’s head back at a dangerous angle.

“Get off him,” Matt snarled.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down,” a recovered Nicky said from behind Andrew. “Come on, Matt.”

Kevin let go of Neil with one hand and drove an elbow elbow in Matt’s ribs. Matt grunted and tightened his grip, forcing Kevin to release Neil entirely if he hoped to breathe anytime soon. Matt hauled Kevin away from Neil, but Kevin wiggled free two steps later and swung at Matt. Matt deflected it with one swipe and punched Kevin hard enough to send him sprawling.

The look on Matt's face said he was just getting started, but Andrew stepped between them before Matt could go after Kevin again. Andrew was smiling and his stance was casual, but Matt knew better than to try his luck against the short psychopath. Matt took a step back, silently conceding the fight, and shot Neil a worried look. Kevin got to his feet behind Andrew and glared at Neil. Neil refused to look at anyone at all and pretended the wall of the cabin was the most interesting thing he'd seen in years.

The three girls chose that moment to step in. One moved up alongside Matt, expression tight with anger. She swept a dark look between Andrew's group and Neil and said, “What do you think you’re doing? Why are you fighting with a Candidate?”

“Just getting him used to Weyr life,” Andrew answered cheerfully, to which the girl scowled. Andrew waved at another girl standing behind her, but the first girl pushed her hand down when she went to wave back.

“Explanation now, Andrew.”

“You’re looking at me like it’s my fault,” Andrew wagged a finger at her. “Look again, why don’t you? Little Neil is far away from the Candidates barracks where he belongs, and we never told him where we live. He brought the fight to us. Dan, your bias is cruel and unfair.”

“Please, I know what you’re like,” the girl said, before turning her gaze onto Neil. “I’m Dan, rider of gold Leith. I’m senior weyrwoman after Abby. This is Renee, rider of gold Walth, and Allison, rider of gold Reynoth. What’s the problem here?”

Dan had sharp brown eyes, narrowed at Neil. Renee was the one who Andrew had waved at, a waif of a girl, while Allison was tall, blonde, and bored. The latter two looked like stereotypical gold riders, delicate, girly things who barely managed to control their dragons at flight, while Dan reminded Neil of his mother: tough and shrewd.

“There isn’t one,” Neil said. When Dan jerked a hand between him and Kevin, Neil shrugged. "Just a difference of opinions. Nothing that matters."

"We're getting along splendidly," Andrew said. "Neil even agreed to come visit Southern Hold with us."

"Oh did he?" Dan asked, obviously skeptical. They all looked at Neil. The fact it was suicidal didn't mean much anymore, not when Andrew's lot had been through his things. Neil had massive damage control to do.

"Yes," Neil said. "I figured if I Impress I won’t have a chance to see the Hold for at least a turn, so I took them up on their offer."

Dan looked ready to argue, but Matt quieted her with a touch on her arm. Dan sent Andrew a suspicious glare, then shook her head. "I don't know who started this, but the fighting stops now."

"Always the optimist," Andrew said, and gave Neil his two-fingered salute. "See you soon. Don't run off, okay?"

 "Wouldn't dream of it," Neil lied.

Andrew vanished into the cabin. Aaron and Nicky followed. Kevin was the last to move, and he sent Neil a chilly look in parting. Neil was left staring after them, wondering how he was supposed to survive a visit to Southern Hold.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as I'm aware Pern only has one language, but I needed something to be 'French' and 'German' :)


End file.
